


Recombinant

by sanctuary_for_all



Series: Finding Their Way [1]
Category: Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Genre: F/M, Feels, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-01
Updated: 2014-08-01
Packaged: 2018-02-11 07:22:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2059101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You’re a part of me, Holly Short. No matter what else about me changes, that won’t.”</p><p>Set after "Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Recombinant

Artemis was in front of one of his carefully rebuilt computers, screen filled with information on dozens of different pieces of technology that Opal’s death had eradicated. He had decided that re-creating some of the more essential ones – and improving them, naturally – would be a sufficiently distracting hobby for the foreseeable future.

“Are you and Foaly collaborating or competing?” Holly asked, hand on the back of Artemis’s chair. She’d let her hair grow out, enough that it now skimmed the base of her neck. In all the years he’d known her, he couldn’t recall ever seeing her hair this long.

There were still a few gaps in his memory – his seventh birthday, for some reason, and other time periods he had yet to precisely identify – but every moment he had spent with Captain Holly Short was as clear and sharp as it had ever been. The memories felt even more precious to him now.

“Both.” Keeping his voice light, Artemis glanced over at Holly. She looked tired – the rebuilding was still going on down in Haven, much as it was on the surface – but she still determinedly spent nearly every moment of her free time up here with him. Of course, Artemis also spent a good deal of time down in Haven with her, especially after his family had once again become accustomed to having him back among the living. Neither of them spoke of the habit. “Either way, though, it’ll keep any other mad humans or pixies from trying the same trick Opal pulled.  Caballine should be more than sufficient to keep Foaly in line, and I’ve lost the taste for world domination.”

“And even if you suddenly change your mind, I’ll be here to keep _you_ in line.” Her tone was affectionate as her fingers trailed lightly through the hair at the back of his head. The touch was remarkably distracting, but he wasn’t about to ask her to stop. “He was grumbling last week about you asking him to take off the sixth toe he accidentally gave you. Said you were being nitpicky.”

“Purely a practical matter. My Gucci loafers no longer fit comfortably.” He caught his reflection in the darkness of the screen, sobering at the memory of the two blue eyes that now stared at him from the mirror each morning. He felt a strange sense of loss every time he remembered the hazel one that was no longer there. “I do miss my fairy eye, though.”

“I don’t.”  The words were sharp, and Holly’s fingers left his hair as her hand disappeared from the back of the seat. He swiveled the chair around to see that she’d stalked away from him, hands clenched tight. “If you’d been completely human, you wouldn’t have died.”

He recognized the self-recrimination in the words, deciding it was unacceptable. “If I’d never met you, I’d still be a broken boy without a father or little brothers.” His voice was gentle as he stood. “I also suspect that my lifestyle would have gotten me killed in a rather more irretrievable fashion, though I ask that you never tell Butler I said that.”

They stared at each other for a long, silent moment. Artemis fought the urge to go to her, not trusting what he would do once he got there. “You’ve never regretted it?” she asked quietly, something too wild to translate in her still-mismatched eyes. “Not once?”

“Never.” He didn’t ask if she had ever regretted it, knowing that it would hurt if she said yes. Instead, compelled by a burst of emotion he would have fought harder against if there’d been anyone else present, he laid a hand against his heart. “You’re a part of me, Holly Short. No matter what else about me changes, that won’t.”

There was a second of absolute stillness, then Holly suddenly moved towards him. Artemis tensed, half wondering if she’d smack him for the sudden burst of sentiment. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his middle and pressed her cheek against his shirt. Though it was biologically impossible, he could have sworn he felt his heart stop. “Don’t do that again,” she ordered, voice thick.

He folded himself around her, chin against her hair. “Your instructions need to be clearer if you expect them to be followed,” he murmured, holding on as tight as she was.

Holly chuckled, voice wet. “You always have to argue.” Then she inhaled, fisting her hands in his shirt. “Don’t die, Arty. Not again.” The words dropped to a whisper. “I can’t lose you twice.”

Artemis closed his eyes, the constriction in his throat making any response a risk. “Don’t worry,” he managed finally, feeling like he was making a promise. “I plan on making your life difficult for a very long time.”

He felt her smile against his shirt. “Good.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my original short fiction on my [blog](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


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